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Everett C. and Louise Staton Johnson papers

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Held at: University of Delaware Library Special Collections [Contact Us]181 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717-5267

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Delaware Library Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Everett C. Johnson was born on September 8, 1877, in Blackwater, Delaware, to Isaac (d. 1917) and Belinda (Williams) Johnson. He grew up in Selbyville, Delaware, where he attended school and became lifelong friends with John G. Townsend (1871-1964), a friendship that would later bear fruit in Johnson's political career. In 1895 Johnson entered Delaware College, where he graduated in 1899 with a Latin Scientific major. In 1898 he was the editor of the college's first yearbook, and frequently wrote articles for the college paper, the Review, as well as for the Delta Phi Literary Society Newsletter. These activities helped prepare him for his future publishing and editing career. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement, he also developed an interest in painting and the book arts.

From 1899-1902 Johnson pursued postgraduate studies in history and political science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In order to earn a living, he taught at the Deichmann College Preparatory School (see F5) in Baltimore, and lectured on Hamlet. After graduating, he married Louise Staton, daughter of Joseph L. Staton, who was pastor of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church in Newark, Delaware, from 1880 until his death in 1891. For the next several years Johnson undertook a career in agriculture, purchasing a farm several miles south of Newark, but largely gave this up in 1910 when he founded the Newark Post, originally located on the corner of Main Street at South College Avenue. The circulation of this weekly newspaper was quick to expand, and Johnson remained the editor until his death in 1926. In 1916 Johnson built the Press of Kells, a printing house situated on the corner of South College Avenue and Park Place. The name was taken from the Book of Kells, a large illuminated gospel created by Irish monks in the eighth century, and it represented the nostalgia for master craftsmanship and the rejection of technology that were at the center of the Arts and Crafts ideology. Johnson brought the craft of handprinting to Newark, modeling the Kells building after the Tudor-style Roycroft print shop of Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915), the leading American Arts and Crafts printer of his time.

Hubbard founded Roycroft in East Aurora, New York, in 1895, after spending several years selling soap products door-to-door. He had acquired an interest in writing and literature, and he combined this interest with the marketing and promotional techniques which he learned as a salesman. He was the first to undertake mass-market advertising of books on a large scale and to distribute them to would-be customers through mail-order gift catalogs. Hubbard was well aware that colorful and artistic graphic designs would sell books, and he was wholly dedicated to the production of books which were hand-crafted without the aid of machinery.

Johnson admired Hubbard and was influenced by his work, and after Hubbard's death on the Lusitania in 1915 Johnson ordered the special memorial edition of Hubbard's Little Journeys series for his daughter Marjorie. Johnson hired a linotype operator from Boston by the name of John Schultz, affectionately known as the "vagabond printer," who also took the movement very seriously. Schultz helped to shape the ideology of Kells, "Where Printing is an Art & not a Job," and was the centerpiece of a promotional booklet which celebrated the spirit of the movement (see F49). However, the artistic typography and crafted style only lasted at Kells until about 1918, when state government took Johnson away from Newark for several years, and when Schultz left for a tour of duty in post-war France.

Johnson was a progressive Republican, seeking social, governmental, and educational reforms, and he used his newspaper as a forum for his progressivism. He sought improvements for a better Newark -- the establishment of good roads, good schools, a free library, a city sewer system, and a YMCA -- and became a very popular and outspoken local figure. In the same year that he founded the Newark Post (1910), Johnson was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives on the Republican ticket, and was re-elected in 1912. While in Dover, Johnson did a great deal for Newark, helping rejuvenate the social sciences at Delaware College and fostering agricultural expansion and improvements in the area. In 1911 he was elected to the board of trustees of the University of Delaware. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment, however, was criticism of Delaware's lack of commitment to women's higher education and sponsorship of state legislation which admitted women into Delaware College, which occurred in 1913.

His political career soon gained momentum, and in 1917 he was appointed by recently-elected Governor John G. Townsend as Delaware secretary of state, a position he held until 1921. Governor Townsend was a staunch reformer as well, and together they set out a successful program to improve Delaware's infrastructure, including the creation of better roads and the reform of education and the tax system. Townsend utilized Johnson's charismatic personality by calling upon him to speak for the cause of reform, a role which Johnson continued to play after retiring from public office. During the First World War, Johnson served as a leader in numerous drives, including those for Liberty Loans and the Red Cross, and he also served as chairman of the State Council of Defense. In addition, Johnson lobbied Congress to have the Cape Henlopen lighthouse, a colonial-era structure, given to the state of Delaware. It was about to collapse due to erosion from the sea, and Johnson hoped to shore up enough money to preserve it. Unfortunately, it collapsed in 1926, but a small drawing of the lighthouse, which had been hanging on the wall in his house, is in the collection (see F1).

The last years of his life were spent in public speaking and in his continuing support of the community. He constantly endeavored to assist the University and its students, even offering loans and employment to students who needed financial aid. In 1922, Johnson was elected chairman of the Committee on Grounds and Buildings, which was responsible for planning the new library for the University, to be named Memorial Hall in commemoration of those Delawareans who had died in World War I. Johnson also continued his duties at the Press of Kells and at the Newark Post, though his increasingly frail health forced him to spend several days a week at rest. The most important work to come out of Kells at this time was a 1924 printing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. This had a very large regional distribution, finding its way into Rotary Clubs and numerous high schools. The publication won Johnson election into New York's Grolier Club in 1925, and was made an official souvenir for Philadelphia's Sesquicentennial Exposition in 1926. Unfortunately, Johnson did not live to see this last distinction, for he died of a heart attack on February 20, 1926. Moreover, after his death, the Press of Kells went into a rapid decline, and was eventually sold in 1935.

Delaware History. Fall-Winter 1993-94 (vol. 25 no. 4).Hamilton, Charles F. As Bees in Honey Drown: Elbert Hubbard & the Roycrofters. Cranbury, N.J.: A.S. Barnes & Co., 1973/McKenna, Paul. A History & Bibliography of the Roycroft Printing Shop. North Tonawanda, N.Y.: Tona Graphics, 1986.The National Encyclopedia of American Biography. New York: James T. White & Co., 1892-1984.Historical and biographical material also found in the collection.

Louise Staton Johnson was born in 1882 to Joseph L. Staton (1836-1891) and Martha (Rounds) Staton, in Newark, Delaware. The family originally lived in Snow Hill, Maryland, but moved to Newark in 1881 when Joseph Staton took over the pastorship of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church after the death of the former pastor, his brother George Staton. Joseph Staton's first wife was Louisa Tilghman, a sister of William Tilghman who was a businessman from Salisbury, Maryland, and together they had five children: Jeff Staton, John Staton, Margaret (Staton) Wilson, Georgia (Staton) Warren, and Elizabeth (Staton) Jarmon. Louisa died of tuberculosis in 1879, and in the following year Joseph married Martha Rounds, who came from a large Philadelphia family. Together they had two children: Louise, who was named after her father's first wife, and Henry Staton, born in 1884. Her father died when she was eight years old, and her mother was left to raise the children alone. Louise attended Newark High School, and after graduating in 1897 she worked as a teacher for several years. In 1902 she married Everett C. Johnson, and 1907 saw the birth of their only child, Marjorie Johnson [Tilghman].

After the death of her husband in 1926, Louise continued at the

Newark Post as editor for several years and rented rooms in her house to university professors and other professionals in order to make extra money. However, she soon embarked on a number of ventures that would take her to New York and Washington, D.C. In 1928 she and her daughter left Delaware to take a temporary job at the Manumit summer camp in New York state, and later that year Louise moved to Troy, New York, as an assistant dietitian at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. This job was cut short, however, by an invitation to work as a secretary in the office of family friend John Townsend, who had been elected to the United States Senate by the state of Delaware in November 1928. In early 1929 she moved to Washington, DC., and continued to work for Townsend through two terms of office, from 1929-1940. Afterwards she worked for several years in the Commerce Department as an editor in the Division of International Economics and Statistics. During this period she was encouraged to take Spanish classes, and in 1946 she retired and eventually moved back to Newark. While in Washington, and as a result of her senatorial connections, she was invited to various state functions: the inauguration of Herbert Hoover, the reception of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and the unveiling of statues of Caesar Rodney and John Middleton Clayton in the Capitol rotunda.

The remainder of her years in Newark were relatively quiet. She was very interested in family history and subsequently wrote memoirs of her life, a work which she completed in 1975. She also wrote countless narratives and poems, which she submitted to magazines and newspapers throughout Delaware and Maryland over the course of forty years. Many were published, and through these she did a great deal to preserve the memory of her husband and his work. She died in 1977, at the age of 95.

Delaware History. Fall-Winter 1993-94 (vol. 25 no. 4).Hamilton, Charles F. As Bees in Honey Drown: Elbert Hubbard & the Roycrofters. Cranbury, N.J.: A.S. Barnes & Co., 1973/McKenna, Paul. A History & Bibliography of the Roycroft Printing Shop. North Tonawanda, N.Y.: Tona Graphics, 1986.The National Encyclopedia of American Biography. New York: James T. White & Co., 1892-1984.Historical and biographical material also found in the collection.

The Everett C. & Louise S. Johnson Papers concern the personal affairs of prominent Delaware publisher and politician Everett C. Johnson (1877-1926) and his wife Louise Staton Johnson (1882-1977). In addition, the collection contains material from their Newark publishing house, the Press of Kells, which brought the Arts and Crafts Movement to the community from 1916 to 1918.

The collection comprises two linear feet of material and contains publications, correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, newspaper clippings, speeches, certificates, and ephemera. The collection is divided into three main series: I. Everett C. Johnson, II. Louise Staton Johnson, and III. publications from the Press of Kells and the Roycrofters.

The first series spans the period 1897-1988, and includes newspaper clippings, correspondence, photographs, photocopied newspaper articles and manuscripts, certificates, speeches, booklets and programs, items from the Lincoln Club of Delaware, and other miscellaneous items.

The second series spans the period 1835-1988 and includes a wide variety of original writings, as well as copies of magazines and newspapers in which they were found; memoirs; correspondence; photographs; speeches; invitations; items relating to the death of Everett Johnson; a ledger; and a scrapbook.

The third series spans the period 1911-1926, and includes original publications from the Press of Kells and the Roycroft printing shop.

The collection is a depository for numerous publications from the Press of Kells between the period 1916 and 1925, as well as some of the works of the Roycroft shop in Aurora, New York. Many of the publications are printed in the craftsman style, enriched with color and hand- lettered initials, and printed on handmade paper. Many of the works that were produced at Kells were no more than several pages in length and were directed towards the Newark community, such as a printed program for the Shakspere festival of 1916, or transcripts of speeches given at the University. Other publications were more ambitious, such as the Gospel of St. John or Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. However, most of the extant material in this collection is only a page or two in length. The decline of the craftsman influence is seen in later works, such as the 1921 English Bible, which was printed in standard type, reflecting Johnson's extended absence from Kells and a gradual loss of interest in the movement.

The collection is rich in biographical and historical material, including information about Everett Johnson and the Press of Kells in various scholarly journals, newspaper articles, and family narratives. Of particular interest are the memoirs of Louise Johnson, "A Narration of Many Memories, Several Detours, and a Few Thoughts" (see F45). Written in 1975, she recounts growing up in Newark, her family and acquaintances, and the experiences of her own career after the death of her husband. Though written with free-flowing associations, this is a valuable source for Newark historians interested in the last years of the nineteenth century. Mrs. Johnson provides colorful descriptions of everyday life as well as numerous anecdotes of local interest, and methodically recounts the names of numerous residents and the businesses located along Main Street.

Her memoirs also provide insight into the social and political life of Washington, D.C. during the 1930s and early 1940s, with a vague sense of growing racial tensions and crime in the city. Mrs. Johnson described in some detail the daily routines and business of Senator Townsend, providing an informative profile of his personality as well. She wrote about housing shortages during and after the war, noting that she rented part of her home in Washington to Dr. Richard C. Tolman, who she later discovered was an important figure in the development of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Japan in 1945.

Much of the material from the papers of Louise Johnson reflects her deep interest in family history, particularly that of her parents and husband. She wrote several narratives about each of her parents, describing the death of her father, his involvement with the Welsh Tract Church, and a long piece about her mother entitled "The Friend within our Gates," which she submitted to Yankee magazine for publication in 1972 (F26). She also transcribed an autobiography written by her father in 1884 (F37), as well as an 1835 indenture which documented the purchase of the family homestead by her paternal grandfather. Upon the death of Everett Johnson, newspapers from around the region ran articles commemorating him, and these were kept together with other items regarding his death. Mrs. Johnson wrote and submitted dozens of other writings, some of local interest such as a compilation of "Delaware Sayings," while others were simply poems, often only several lines in length.

The correspondence in both series shows the wide range of contacts that both Everett and Louise Johnson maintained throughout their lives, much of which was in the political sphere. Aside from John Townsend, Everett Johnson was friends with Judge Hugh M. Morris (after whom the University of Delaware library is named), Coleman du Pont, and William Tindall. Perhaps the most interesting letters in this collection are those by John Schultz (former linotype operator at Kells) to Marjorie Johnson (later Tilghman), written while he was on a tour of duty in France during 1919. These letters are very reflective in nature, and reveal the same type of free-thinking, passionate personality that must have attracted him to the Arts and Crafts Movement. They describe his experience in France in some detail, including a "pilgrimage" to the birthplace of Joan of Arc.

The collection also contains material from the Lincoln Club of Delaware, an organization founded in 1929 at a dinner-meeting at the Wilmington Country Club. Everett Johnson idolized Lincoln and was well known for his tributes to the president, particularly his annual Lincoln day addresses before the Delaware legislature. Even though Johnson had died in 1926, when the Club formed in 1929, he was honored as a charter member. The Lincoln Club celebrated the president's birthday every year with a formal dinner program in Wilmington, featuring addresses from prominent professors and political figures, or descendants of those who worked with and knew the president. Among other items, the collection contains several of the programs from these meetings, as well as an official history of the organization to 1969.

Box 1: Shelved in SPEC MSS record center carton Box 2: Shelved in SPEC MSS record center carton (6 inches)Box 3: Shelved in SPEC MSS oversize boxes (15 inches)Box 4: Shelved in SPEC MSS shoeboxOversized removals: Shelved in SPEC MSS oversize boxes (32 inches)

Gift of Mrs. Marjorie Tilghman, 1989-1995

Processed by Arthur Siegel, April 1998. Encoded by Natalie Baur, March 2010, revised by Anita Wellner, September 2014 and John Caldwell, September 2019.

Publisher
University of Delaware Library Special Collections
Finding Aid Author
University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
Finding Aid Date
2014 September 19
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, https://library.udel.edu/static/purl.php?askspec

Collection Inventory

Scope and Contents

Included are photographs of the Press of Kells building and employees, Everett Johnson, and his family. Most of these are undated, and many were taken at portrait studios in Wilmington and Philadelphia.

Physical Description

21 items

Cape Henlopen Lighthouse, undated.
Box 1 Folder F1
Scope and Contents

A 5 x 7" print in a green and gold wood frame. Signed on the back, "From Everett C. Johnson to Frank W. Wilson, Park Pl. Newark Del." Trade sticker on the back reads "Haderer Co./ Art & Gift Shop/ Picture Framing/ Artists Materials/225 W. Ninth St./ Wilmington, Del." The Cape Henlopen Lighthouse washed out to sea in 1926.

Physical Description

1 item

Physical Description

11 items

Isaac R. and Belinda A. Johnson, undated.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Photograph by Hendrickson, 307 Market St., Wilmington, Del.

Isaac Johnson, undated.
Box 1 Folder F2
Johnson as a child, undated.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

J.C. Steinman, 504 S. Second St., Philadelphia

Johnson aged 14?, undated.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Swain A. Bridle, 526 S. Second St., Philadelphia

Johnson in uniform, undated.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Officer at Delaware College

Officers of the Delaware College Cadet Corps (including Johnson), 1897.
Box 1 Folder F2
Johnson's study, 1899.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

904 N. Carey St., Baltimore

Johnson with W.B. Welch and J. Ryland Clark, undated.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

114 W. North Ave., Baltimore

Johnson and five women, undated.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Baltimore

Portrait of Johnson as a young man, seated with a book, undated.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Gilbert's Studio, 926 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA

Staff of Kells, 1925.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Studio of A.N. Sanborn, 404 Market St., Wilmington; list of staff names provided by Marjorie Tilghman; removed to oversize box

Physical Location

Removed to oversize

Portrait of Johnson, undated.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Photo-postcard; Modern Studios, 10 ½ No. 9th St, 223 No. 8th St., 251 No. 8th St., Philadelphia

Portrait of Johnson, undated.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Ellis Photographs

Study for a portrait of Everett Johnson, undated.
Box 1 Folder F3
Scope and Contents

Gouache? on artist drawing board with a newsclipping. By Delaware painter Stanley Arthurs for commissioned portrait which is hung in Old College at the University of Delaware

Physical Description

2 items

Physical Description

6 items

Program, 1931 February 12.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Wilmington, Delaware. Speakers: William Heald, Thomas Bayard, and George McIntire. On the cover is a silhouette of Lincoln along with a quote, and on the inside is a quote from Everett Johnson. On the back cover is a list of guests attending the dinner.

Program, 1934 February 12.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Wilmington. Speaker: Ray F. Nichols, Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. On the cover is a silhouette of Lincoln along with a quote, and on the inside is a quote from Everett Johnson.

Program, 1937 February 12.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Lincoln Dinner, Wilmington Country Club. Speaker: Robert Fortenbaugh, Professor of History at Gettysburg College. Printed on the program is a menu, quotes by Lincoln and Everett Johnson.

Newsclipping, undated.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Regarding Senator George McIntire's Lincoln address to the Smyrna Rotary Club.

Physical Description

2 copies

The Lincoln Memorial [detail], undated.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

"Jake McGuire" in the lower right corner; "This print reproduced exclusively for: The Lincoln Institute, 1735 DeSales St., N.W., Washington D.C. 20070-0243."

Lincoln Club of Delaware: A History, 1970.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

By Albert O. H. Grier and Harold Brayman; published by the Lincoln Club of Delaware.

Physical Description

49 pp.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence with notables such as Hugh M. Morris, John Townsend, and Coleman du Pont. Everett Johnson wrote to John Townsend on February 19, 1926, the day before he died, and a copy of Johnson's letter was sent by Townsend to Louise Johnson in 1963.

Physical Description

12 items

Typed Letter (carbon) EJ to Samuel E. Shannahan, 1923 December 5.
Box 1 Folder F5
Typed Letter (carbon) EJ to Miss Fannie Herrington, 1924 January 2.
Box 1 Folder F5
Typed Letter (carbon) EJ to Sec' y, Atlantic City Rotary Club, NJ, 1924 January 8.
Box 1 Folder F5
Typed Letter, Coleman du Pont to EJ, 1924 October 25.
Box 1 Folder F5
Typed Letter, Coleman du Pont to EJ, 1924 October 27.
Box 1 Folder F5
Typed Letter Signed, Thomas F. Bayard to EJ, 1924 October 28.
Box 1 Folder F5
Typed Letter Signed, Coleman du Pont to EJ, 1924 November 5.
Box 1 Folder F5
Typed Letter Signed, Hugh M. Morris to EJ, 1925 January 20.
Box 1 Folder F5
Typed Letter Signed, Hugh M. Morris to EJ, 1925 January 28.
Box 1 Folder F5
Typed Letter Signed, Hugh M. Morris to EJ, 1925 January 29.
Box 1 Folder F5
Typed Letter Signed, John G. Townsend, Jr. to Louise Johnson, 1963 April 19.
Box 1 Folder F5
Scope and Contents

With enclosure: Typed Letter Signed (copy) EJ to John G. Townsend, 1926 February 19

Typed Letter Signed, "Margaret" to Marjorie Tilghman, 1988 October 3.
Box 1 Folder F5
Scope and Contents

With enclosure: 4 pp. of information about the Deichmann College Preparatory School, Baltimore

Memorial Hall Dedication, 1925.
Box 1 Folder F6
Scope and Contents

Built to house the University of Delaware library, Memorial Hall was dedicated on May 23, 1925. The ceremony included the acceptance of a Book of Memory for those Delawareans who died in the war. Johnson chaired the Memorial Library Committee. Included is a program from the dedication (2 pp.); Everett Johnson's speech (4 pp., 2 copies); Governor Robert P. Robinson's speech (1 p., 2 copies); and a transcript of that speech, as written in an article by Everett Johnson for the

Wilmington Every Evening. Physical Description

7 items

Scope and Contents

Includes speeches either by or about Everett Johnson.

Sons of the American Revolution, 1924 April 19.
Box 1 Folder F7
Scope and Contents

Speech given by Johnson at the Hotel DuPont, Wilmington. Typescript (carbon), 13 pp., Typescript (carbon), 7 pp., incomplete draft

Physical Description

2 items

Memorial to Everett C. Johnson, 1927 February 19.
Box 1 Folder F8
Scope and Contents

Speech given by George Morgan at the University of Delaware Alumni Dinner. Holograph and typescript manuscript, 50 pp., George Morgan 408 S. 45th St., Phila. Pa. Galley of speech (removed to oversize box). Autograph letter signed from Louise S. Johnson regarding loan of the manuscript, 4 pp.

Physical Description

3 items

Hamlet lecture, undated.
Box 1 Folder F9
Scope and Contents

Typescript probably given between 1899 and 1902 by Johnson at Johns Hopkins

Physical Description

53 pp.

Speech, undated.
Box 1 Folder F10
Scope and Contents

Typescript speech regarding Americanization and the "Service Citizens of Delaware."

Physical Description

2 pp. (3 drafts)

Newspaper clippings, 1910-1971.
Box 1 Folder F11
Scope and Contents

Miscellaneous articles, either written by Johnson or about him. There are several copies of articles from Wilmington newspapers regarding the appointment of Johnson to the post of secretary of state and the retirement of Gov. John Townsend. Also included is a 1971 article about the Cape Henlopen lighthouse which was washed out with the tide in 1926; photocopies of several undated articles; an article pasted in a folder entitled "A Clipping from the

Delaware State News," which is dated October 24, 1935; and a typed copy of quotes supplied by Everett Johnson in his first issue of the Newark Post in 1910. Physical Description

18 items

Grolier Club, 1924 July 26.
Box 1 Folder F12
Scope and Contents

A receipt from the Grolier Club for a copy of the Declaration of Independence which Johnson sent to them. There are two pages mounted on board, with the script and lettering of the formal receipt found within a border of double blue lines. On the upper right-hand sheet is the insignia of the Grolier Club, and the letter is signed by the Librarian, Ruth S. Granniss.

Physical Description

1 item

Newark Post, 1960, 1976.
Box 1 Folder F13
Scope and Contents

Four copies of the 50th anniversary edition of the

Newark Post, dated January 28, 1960, in which is found a commemoration of Everett Johnson. Also included is a copy of the Weekly Post "Time Capsule Edition," dated Jun 30 - July 6, 1976, in which there is an article about Johnson.
Physical Description

4 items

Belinda H. Williams, 1867 March 14.
Box 1 Folder F14
Scope and Contents

"Certificate for good behavior and rapid improvements at School in various branches..." awarded to Belinda Williams, Johnson's mother. Signed by Joshua J. Williams, framed by Haderer Co. Art & Gift Shop, 225 W. 9th St., Wilmington.

Certificate of Appointment, 1919 September 29.
Box 1 Folder F14
Scope and Contents

For Dr. E.S. Dwight of Kent Co. to the Delaware State Tuberculosis Commission. Signed by Everett Johnson, secretary of state, and Gov. John G. Townsend, Jr.; includes the Delaware state seal.

Certificate of Merit, 1921 June 22.
Box 1 Folder F14
Scope and Contents

"For halftone printing on Certificate Bond," awarded to Kells by the Crocken-McElwain Co. of Holyoke, Massachusetts; signed by C.A. Crocken.

Certificate of membership to the Grolier Club, 1925 April 15.
Box 1 Folder F14
Easley, Joan R. "The Newark Post: a case study in small town journalism" in University of Delaware News, 1980 March.
Box 1 Folder F15
Scope and Contents

(vol. XLVI, no.2) pp. 10-20.

Taggart, Robert J. "Etta J. Wilson (1883-1971): a Delaware reformer" in Delaware History, 1990 spring-summer.
Box 1 Folder F15
Scope and Contents

(vol. XXIV, no. 1) pp. 38-39.

"Everett C. Johnson" in Delaware Past Present, undated.
Box 1 Folder F15
Physical Description

pp. 314-316.

Ephemera and artifacts, undated.
Box 1 Folder F16
Scope and Contents

Bookplate with Emily Dickinson quote, "From the Library of Everett C. Johnson"; a placecard for Everett Johnson; Typescript manuscript of a poem written by Mrs. A.E. Watson for a farewell party given to the Johnsons when they left Dover; printed portrait of Johnson pasted onto black paper; and brochure for "European Tours .. organized and accompanied by W.A. Johnson," July - August 1901. Prof. E.C. Johnson is listed with the party. One Waltham pocket watch originally belonging to Everett Johnson has been removed to Box 4 in the SAFE.

Physical Description

6 items

Newspaper Clippings, 1926 February 20-April 3.
Box 1 Folder F17
Scope and Contents

Contains 11 loose clippings from various newspapers, including the front pages of the

Wilmington Evening Journal (February 20, 1926) and the Newark Post (February 24, 1926); three photocopied pages of undated clippings; and 15 pages with numerous clippings glued to each. The latter group contains articles from various papers around Delaware and Maryland, and one article from the New York Times. Clippings include memorials from the University of Delaware, the Rotary Club, and other groups, as well as stories on his death and funeral, poems, eulogies, and general reminiscences. Physical Description

29 items

Quotes, undated.
Box 1 Folder F17
Scope and Contents

One of these items is a note found at Johnson's bedside on the day he died, with a quote from Emily Dickinson scrawled in pencil. The other item is a quote from Lincoln, printed in black on a large sheet of handmade paper.

Physical Description

2 items

Eulogy, 1926 February 20.
Box 1 Folder F17
Scope and Contents

By the Alumni Association of Delaware College, printed on handmade paper.

Physical Description

1 item

Memorial resolutions, undated.
Box 1 Folder F17
Scope and Contents

Drafted by the Orpheus Club of Wilmington in honor of Everett C. Johnson

Physical Description

2 pp.

Scope and Contents

This series contains correspondence, photographs, narrative writings, speeches, newspaper clippings, magazines, memoirs, a ledger book, and other items pertaining to the life of Louise S. Johnson.

Marjorie Tilghman Lists, undated.
Box 1 Folder F18
Scope and Contents

Lists compiled by Marjorie Tilghman regarding the life of her mother, Louise S. Johnson: "Other writings by LSJ"; "LSJ's Careers," which lists the occupations of her mother in chronological order; and "LSJ's Roomers -- Extended family, "which lists renters over the years, including their occupations.

Physical Description

3 items

Physical Description

4 items

"Everybody's Town," Newark New Century Club, 1935 October 7.
Box 1 Folder F19
Physical Description

26 pp.

Introduction of U.S. Rep. from Delaware, George Stewart, undated.
Box 1 Folder F19
Physical Description

3 pp.

American Legion Reunion, Rehoboth, 1936 May 9.
Box 1 Folder F19
Physical Description

2 pp.

Tribute to Sara Slack, 1956.
Box 1 Folder F19
Physical Description

3 pp.

Physical Description

16 items

Essay on Poe's short stories in Examination Book, Delaware College; LSJ, English, Dr. Sypherd, circa 1915.
Box 1 Folder F20
Certificates for credit in secretarial courses, Strayer College, Washington, D.C., 1929-1930.
Box 1 Folder F20
Report for Spanish class, Western Night School, D.C., 1942.
Box 1 Folder F20
Marriage Certificate, 1880 October 24.
Box 1 Folder F21
Scope and Contents

Joseph L. Staton and Martha C. Rounds, October 24, 1880

Physical Description

1 item

Physical Description

3 items

Inauguration Ceremonies Program, 1929 March 4.
Box 1 Folder F22
Scope and Contents

For the inauguration of President Herbert Hoover, with invitation and a picture of Charles Curtis laid in.

Invitation, 1934 June 26.
Box 1 Folder F22
Scope and Contents

For unveiling of statues of Caesar Rodney and John Middleton Clayton in the Capitol rotunda.

Ladies' Ticket, 1939 June 9.
Box 1 Folder F22
Scope and Contents

For the congressional welcome of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

Department of Commerce, 1942-1944.
Box 1 Folder F23
Scope and Contents

From the period of LSJ's employment as editor with the Division of International Economics and Statistics. Included are correspondence and official forms regarding her promotion in 1943, as well as a Notice of Efficiency Rating, dated May 31, 1944.

Physical Description

20 items

Scope and Contents

Letters written by 2nd Lt. John R. Schultz to his friend, Marjorie Johnson, while he was on a tour of duty in post-war France. Schultz had been employed at Kells, and in 1919 was in active service with the American Expeditionary Force. All of the letters are written in pencil on YMCA letterhead.

Physical Description

4 items

1919 February 17.
Box 1 Folder F24
Scope and Contents

from Maugiennes

Physical Description

16 pp.

1919 May 29.
Box 1 Folder F24
Scope and Contents

from Joncery

Physical Description

17 pp.

1919 August 23.
Box 1 Folder F24
Scope and Contents

from Brest

Physical Description

20 pp.

1919 September 30.
Box 1 Folder F24
Scope and Contents

from Soldiers Rest

Physical Description

11 pp.

Scope and Contents

Including articles written by Louise Johnson.

Physical Description

3 items

Today, 1935 April 13.
Box 1 Folder F25
Scope and Contents

"Secretary (My Boss Works for You)," written anonymously by LSJ

Yankee, 1972 May.
Box 1 Folder F26
Scope and Contents

"The Friend within our Gates" (about LSJ's mother, Martha Rounds Staton)

Delaware Today, 1972 November.
Box 1 Folder F27
Scope and Contents

"Lifestyles 1880"

Newsletters, 1952-1988.
Box 1 Folder F28
Scope and Contents

Three issues of the

Delaware Folklore Bulletin and nine issues of the Newark Historical Society Newsletter. The Delaware Folklore Bulletin (issues from October 1952, 1956, and 1958) contains submissions by Johnson regarding Delaware sayings gathered from various sources, and based on a much larger list which can be found among her personal writings. The Newark Historical Society Newsletter, dating from March 1984 to September 1988, contains an ongoing series of Johnson's unpublished memoirs, which is also found in the collection. Physical Description

12 items

Indenture, 1835 January 15.
Box 1 Folder F29
Scope and Contents

Three copies of a typed transcript of an 1835 indenture between Jessa Fooks and Warner Staton, LSJ's paternal grandfather, which marked the purchase of the Staton family homestead.

Physical Description

3 pp.

Correspondence with Magazines, 1909-1958.
Box 1 Folder F30
Scope and Contents

Responses from magazines to which LSJ submitted articles. Included are letters from

The Christian Science Monitor, The Rural New Yorker, The Star, The Pennsylvania Farmer, The Saturday Evening Post, and The Ladies Home Journal. Physical Description

10 items

Scope and Contents

Correspondence with friends, as well as business-related correspondence.

Physical Description

21 items

Walter T. Bradley to Mrs. Everett C. Johnson, 1928 February 8.
Box 1 Folder F31
Scope and Contents

Philadelphia company citing LSJ as editor of the

Newark Post. Physical Description

1 p.

Carlton Keefe to Mrs. Johnson, 1929 February 28.
Box 1 Folder F31
Physical Description

1 p.

Prudential Ins. Co. of America to LSJ, 1929 March 12.
Box 1 Folder F31
Physical Description

1 p.

Ruth Bryan Owen to Louise S. Johnson, 1930 July 1.
Box 1 Folder F31
Physical Description

1 p.

William Tindall to LSJ Louise Johnson, 1931 June 9, November 29.
Box 1 Folder F31
Physical Description

2 items, 7 pp.

Rice-Schmidt Baking Co. to LSJ, 1931 December 15.
Box 1 Folder F31
Scope and Contents

Regarding the award of first prize in an essay contest.

Physical Description

1 p.

W.C. Cox Co. to LSJ, 1934 March 20-22.
Box 1 Folder F31
Scope and Contents

W.C. Cox & Co. was an International Probate Service, based in Chicago, responding to inquiries about the heirs of John W. Staton, an early-nineteenth century ancestor who lived in Accomac Co., Virginia.

Physical Description

3 items, 3 pp.

G. Burton Pearson and LSJ, 1934 April 9, 13.
Box 1 Folder F31
Scope and Contents

Concerning the estate of Everett C. Johnson.

Physical Description

2 items, 2pp.

Hugh Morris and LSJ, 1937 April 19, 20, 26.
Box 1 Folder F31
Scope and Contents

Concerning the estate of Everett C. Johnson.

Physical Description

3 items, 3 pp.

Lee W. Warren to LSJ, 1951 May 15, 21.
Box 1 Folder F31
Scope and Contents

From the husband of Louise's stepsister, Georgia. These letters contain reminiscences about Louise's stepfamily during the late nineteenth century, as well as the birth of Mildred Staton Tilghman.

Physical Description

2 items, 5 pp.

John G. Townsend to LSJ, 1963 March 5.
Box 1 Folder F31
Physical Description

1 p.

Greeting card for Marjorie Tilghman from Jean, undated.
Box 1 Folder F31
Physical Description

2 pp.

G.C.H. to Mrs. Johnson, undated.
Box 1 Folder F31
Physical Description

2 pp.

W. Dent Smith to LSJ, undated.
Box 1 Folder F31
Scope and Contents

A handwritten note regarding Everett Johnson's Hamlet lecture.

Physical Description

1 p.

Physical Description

22 items

Joseph L. Staton, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
Scope and Contents

Entrekin Fine Photography, 1700 N. Broad St., Philadelphia A.P. Beecher, Photographer, 315 Market St., Wilmington, Del. Photographed by A. McCormick, Oxford, Chester Co., Pa.

Physical Description

3 items

Welsh Tract Meeting House, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
Scope and Contents

photo-postcard

Henry and Louise Staton as children, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
Scope and Contents

A.P. Beecher, Photographer, 315 Market St., Wilmington, Del.

Martha Rounds Staton, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
Scope and Contents

A.P. Beecher, Photographer, 315 Market St., Wilmington, Del. Cummings Photo, 307 Market St., Wilmington, Del

Physical Description

2 items

Louise Staton, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
Scope and Contents

color xerox of a photograph of LS as a young woman

Graduating class of Newark High School, 1897.
Box 1 Folder F32
Scope and Contents

Louise Staton seated in the front row with Professor Ellis

LS standing before window, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
Scope and Contents

note on back: "Married June 10, 1902"

LSJ standing in front of Capitol, Washington D.C., 1938.
Box 1 Folder F32
Physical Description

2 items

LSJ and Keeley (the cat), undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
LSJ standing in hat and gloves before brick wall, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
LSJ and Pamela K. Peterson, 1946.
Box 1 Folder F32
LSJ and an unidentified woman, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
LSJ in hat with corsage, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
LSJ at the 50th wedding anniversary of Mr. Mrs. Douglas H. MacArthur, Takoma Park, MD, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
LSJ seated in living room, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
LSJ with Virginia Allen and Marjorie Squire at Christmas, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
LSJ in blue suit outdoors, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
Color xerox of LSJ in blue suit outdoors, undated.
Box 1 Folder F32
Photographs of John G. Townsend, Jr., undated.
Box 1 Folder F33
Newark Post, 1927-1928.
Box 1 Folder F34
Scope and Contents

Included are several largely complete editions of the Newark Post from the period of September 7, 1927 to June 13, 1928, when Louise Johnson was editor.

Physical Description

5 items

Marjorie's Sayings, undated.
Box 1 Folder F35
Scope and Contents

Included is an undated, bound journal in which Louise Johnson recorded the sayings and comments of her daughter Marjorie, "age 3-4-5." It is 40 pages in length, written in pencil, and is largely in a prose style. In addition, there are also two typed transcripts of this journal (8 pp. each).

Physical Description

3 items

Scope and Contents

Various works written by LSJ throughout her life. Many were submitted to newspapers and journals and were published, though some were not. Many of these correspond to published material in magazines or newspaper clippings which are found in the collection. Autograph manuscripts and typescripts, though many are photocopies of the original material, as well as of works that are not in the collection. Most pieces are undated (with the exception of the occasional date supplied by Marjorie Tilghman), and frequently provide the address at which LSJ was living at the time, as well as the number of words of the narrative. These writings are subdivided into several categories: poetry, folklore, a series entitled

Times Have Changed, and various other narratives. Physical Description

246 pp.

Folklore, undated.
Box 1 Folder F36
Scope and Contents

Anecdotes and "Delaware sayings" collected by Louise Johnson and submitted to the

Delaware Folklore Bulletin Physical Description

6 pp.

Reflections of the Late Elder Joseph L. Staton, undated.
Box 1 Folder F37
Scope and Contents

Typescript (copy) of autobiography written by LSJ's father

Physical Description

9 pp.

"Unfinished Business (from a Secretary's Personal Notes)", undated.
Box 1 Folder F38
Scope and Contents

Typescript of two articles submitted to

Today magazine in 1935 Physical Description

17 pp.

Poetry, undated.
Box 1 Folder F39
Physical Description

48 pp.

Family Narrative, undated.
Box 1 Folder F40
Scope and Contents

Reflections of LSJ's childhood, as well as memories of her family

Physical Description

66 pp.

Miscellaneous Narrative, undated.
Box 1 Folder F41
Scope and Contents

Short stories and other writings, many of which were submitted for publication

Physical Description

60 pp.

Times Have Changed, undated.
Box 1 Folder F42
Scope and Contents

Anecdotes about the way society, language, fashion, and prices have changed over the years

Physical Description

41 pp.

Ledger Book, circa 1885.
Box 1 Folder F43
Scope and Contents

Bound in leather, there are 34 intermittent pages written in ink and purple pencil. Farm accounts and calculations of Joseph Staton, father of LSJ

Physical Description

1 item

Scrapbook, undated.
Box 3 Folder F44
Scope and Contents

Newspaper and magazine clippings of articles written by LSJ. Source names are written above the clippings, and include the

Rural New Yorker, The Newark Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The Journal Every Evening (Wilmington), The Delaware Star, and The Washington Post. The scrapbook is bound in a hard cover, and most of the pages are blank. Physical Description

18 pp.

"A Narration of Many Memories, Several Detours, and a Few Thoughts,", 1975 June.
Box 1 Folder F45
Scope and Contents

Memoirs of Louise S. Johnson. Inlaid between the pages of one of the copies are several notes, two by her daughter, Marjorie Tilghman, and several photocopies of a letter to LSJ from "Betty," who commented on the book.

Physical Description

161 pp., index, 2 copies

Physical Description

28 items

Johnson, Everett C. Abraham Lincoln: an appreciation. Newark, Del.: The Craftsmen at the Shop of Kells, 1911.
Box 1 Folder F46
Scope and Contents

"Delivered before the General Assembly of Delaware, on the twelfth day of February, nineteen hundred eleven."

Lamb, Charles. The Tale of Twelfth Night, or What You Will by Charles and Mary Lamb., 1916.
Box 1 Folder F47
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del: The Craftsmen at Kells. Printed on the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. Cataloged and transferred to Delaware Collection.

The Shakespeare Festival, 1916.
Box 1 Folder F48
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del.: Master Craftsmen at Kells. "A community celebration of the occasion of the three hundreth anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare consisting of a pageant depicting some scenes from the Life and times of the Dramatist; the performance of Twelfth Night; and an address on the Universality of his works. Given at Newark, Delaware, on April Twenty-eight & Twenty-nine, Nineteen Hundred & Sixteen, under the direction of the English Department of Delaware College and the Women's College of Delaware." Cataloged and transferred to Delaware Collection.

Vagabond printer. Kells: the story of the visit of a vagabond printer to the shop where master craftsmen study and work at the art of printing, 191?.
Box 1 Folder F49
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del.: Kells

My Truth [broadside], undated.
Box 1 Folder F50
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del.: Kells

Physical Description

2 copies

Divinity [broadside, undated.
Box 1 Folder F50
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del.: Kells

Physical Description

2 copies

My Symphony [broadside], undated.
Box 1 Folder F50
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del.: Kells

The Gospel according to Saint John as found in the King James version, 1918.
Box 1 Folder F51
Scope and Contents

Photocopy from the work which was printed at Kells

Physical Description

5 pp.

Vallandigham, Edward Noble. Fifty years of Delaware college, 1870-1920, 1920?.
Box 1 Folder F52
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del. : Kells

The English Bible : being a book of selections from the King James version, 1921.
Box 2 Folder F53
Scope and Contents

Edited, with introduction and explanatory notes, by Wilbur Owen Sypherd. Newark, Del.: The Craftsmen of Kells

Morris, Hugh Martin. America's safeguard of liberty: being an address delivered by the Honorable Hugh M. Morris, United States District Judge for the district of Delaware, before the students of the University of Delaware at Wolf Hall on May 15, 1923., 1923?.
Box 2 Folder F54
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del.: Courtesy of Kells

United States. Declaration of independence; Constitution of the United States of America, 1923.
Box 2 Folder F55
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del., The Craftsmen of Kells. "Americanization Bureau/ 835 Market Street / Wilmington, Delaware" on title page. Cataloged and transferred to Delaware Collection.

United States. Declaration of independence; Constitution of the United States of America, 1924.
Box 2 Folder F55
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del., The Craftsmen of Kells. "N. Snellenburg and Company / Wilmington, Delaware" on title page. Cataloged and transferred to Delaware Collection.

United States. Declaration of independence; Constitution of the United States of America, 1926.
Box 2 Folder F55
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del., Printed by the Craftsmen of Kells. "The Sesqui-centennial Philadelphia, 1776-1926" on cover. Cataloged and transferred to Delaware Collection.

"U.S. Constitution as a best seller", undated.
Box 2 Folder F55
Scope and Contents

Typescript (carbon)

Physical Description

4 pp.

Three newsclippings regarding sale of the volume, undated.
Box 2 Folder F55
Ephemera from the Press of Kells, undated.
Scope and Contents

All items cataloged and transferred to Delaware Collection.

"Merry Christmas to the Old Man", 1925.
Box 2 Folder F56
Scope and Contents

Poetry broadside from "The Kids" (employees of Kells) to "The Old Man" (Everett C. Johnson).

"The Log in the Dam,", undated.
Box 2 Folder F56
Scope and Contents

Pamphlet by "The Old Man in the Newark Post at the Shop of Kells, Newark, Delaware" (Everett Johnson)

Kells, undated.
Box 2 Folder F56
Scope and Contents

Booklet describing the Kells workshop, as well as the background of its name. Includes a quote from

Hamlet, and opposite the first page of text is a small color print of Kells.
Kells, 1922.
Box 2 Folder F56
Scope and Contents

Prospectus with same text as booklet, with Fall Announcement for forthcoming

Poems to Ianthe by Walter Savage Landor, Story of the Unknown Church by William Morris, and The Gospel of St. John according to the King James version
University of Delaware. Alma Mater, undated.
Box 2 Folder F56
Scope and Contents

Broadside with a small picture of Old College opposite the song.

Physical Description

1 pp.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to the homes of eminent orators: Luther, 1903.
Box 2 Folder F57
Scope and Contents

Aurora, N.Y.: Roycrofters. Inscribed Everett C. Johnson. Cataloged and transferred to Delaware Collection.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to the homes of Good Men and Great, 1916.
Box 2 Folder F58
Scope and Contents

East Aurora, N.Y.: the Roycrofters; New York: Wm. H. Wise & Co. "This copy of the Memorial Edition in fourteen volumes ... has been specially prepared... for Marjorie L. Johnson known as Boots."

Physical Description

22 items

Perspective, 1983.
Box 2 Folder F59
Physical Description

2 items

Photocopy of a sketch in ink of the Kells / YWCA building, drawn by the architectural firm of Victorine Samuel Homsey, Inc. , and to be used for a proposed montage., 1983 July 20.
Box 2 Folder F59
Scope and Contents

Also included is a letter from Richard L. Dayton, who worked for the firm, to Marjorie Tilghman, dated July 20, 1983.

Beckman, Thomas. "Arts Crafts Printing in Delaware: Everett C. Johnson and his Press of Kells" in Collections., 1990.
Box 2 Folder F59
Scope and Contents

Newark, Del.: University of Delaware Library Associates. Vol. V

Physical Description

2 copies

"Kells!,", undated.
Box 2 Folder F60
Scope and Contents

Holograph manuscript of poem entitled "Kells," author unknown.

Physical Description

1 p.

"A Brief Account of the Press of Kells,", undated.
Box 2 Folder F61
Scope and Contents

Typescript (and copy) by Marjorie J. and Cornelius A. Tilghman

Physical Description

6 pp., 2 copies

"The Old Printer,", undated.
Box 2 Folder F62
Scope and Contents

Copy prints of a photograph "taken for Red Cross by Louis Hine, NY, during World War I." Printed at Kells

Physical Description

13 copies

Kells envelope with logo and seal in return address, undated.
Box 2 Folder F62
Scope and Contents

"Where Master Craftsmen Study & Work at the Art of Printing."

Bicentennial Grant Write-up, undated.
Box 2 Folder F62
Scope and Contents

Typescript unfinished draft, with holograph corrections; with picture of the building.

Physical Description

5 pp.

Kells logo, undated.
Box 3 Folder F63
Scope and Contents

Wood logo of Press of Kells [K in a triangle, each side of which is an "H"]

Physical Description

1 item

Photographs, undated.
Box 2 Folder F64
Scope and Contents

Four black & white images of the Kells building; photocopy of two photographs, one of which is an interior; miscellaneous note regarding the building

Print, Suggest